Definition of Deconstructionism

Deconstructionism is a school of literary criticism that focuses on the text to the exclusion of any other focus of literary study. That is, deconstructionist critics look only at the words of the work itself (sometimes called logocentrism), rather than considering the author's intentions, his or her life or times, or any possible outside influences. Deconstructionists break the text down into smaller and smaller parts, and often spend as much energy examining what is not said in a text as what is. Further, they argue that words are so imprecise there is no way to agree on the meaning of any work.